Holiday Chronicles
by Hotshot
Summary: A set of stories centering around the newsies at the holiday seasone. Story 2: Chritmas Tree. Snoddy is visiting Pie Eater while his family decorates their Christmas tree. Wow, sounds exciting doesn't it? If you think not you obviously have never met
1. Eggnog

Disclaimer: sorry to ruin my own psychotic dreams but all these characters belong to Disney.  Except Hawk and Blue, those are purely of my own creation, though Lute really improved them and gave them life.  Don't sue me and all will be good.

Holiday Chronicles

Eggnog

Hotshot

Skittery drove past the row of intricately decorated houses in the sleek, new car his parents had gotten him.  A brand new, black Corvette.  Not a convertible, but considering it was winter there was probably some reason behind that.  He noticed one with more cars than usual parked in the long circular driveway of one house and noticed every single light, inside, as well as out, was on.  He pulled his car into the snow-caked driveway.

He'd barely put the car in park and opened the door when a short, dark figure bounced from the direction of the house and landed on the hood of his car.

"No fucking way man.  Shit, you're parents are insane.  Even mine wouldn't go this all out."

Skittery couldn't help but smile as Racetrack circled his car almost in awe of it. Racetrack had a nice car too; though he'd held a job from the time he was fourteen, up until the day he got his license to save up for it.  Skitter closed his door and locked the car; Hanukkah was good.  He waited until the short Italian had finished circling the car before clearing his throat.

"In case you haven't noticed it is sort of starting to snow.  How about we go inside and you can drool at it from behind the windows."

"Ohhh… was that supposed to be a dis?" He asked, with mild humor.  Racetrack leaned down to get a handful of snow.  "Well here's what I think of you and your new car."

He ran after Skittery who was already halfway to the house.  It all ended in snow dripping down Skittery's back as the ball of snow contacted his neck.

"You deserved that," Race told him as they entered the house, which was not as full as most of Race's parties.

"Yeah I did," He looked around, "Where is everyone?"

"Everyone's here.  I didn't invite the whole damn school this time.  Just the people I actually hang out with while we're trapped in that fucking prison."  He nodded in the general direction of the living room, "Someone threw in a movie, there's food in the kitchen and Spot… well Spot is far too attached to my dad's stereo system."

As if to further prove his point loud music suddenly began blaring from the speakers.  A loud "Hell yeah," shouted by, who Skittery could only guess was, Spot came from the next room over.

Race rolled his eyes as his friend came soaring out of the room und into the midst of the small crowd of people that were standing around. 

"See, I told you there had to be some good music on the radio somewhere!" he crowed, glaring in the direction of one of the other boys.  Really, even though Spot was joking around and completely happy there was never another way to describe how he looked at people other than glaring.

Race shrugged and started heading for the kitchen, "C'mon, I'll get you a drink," He offered.

With nothing better to do Skittery followed him.  Race's parties were usually loud, full of people, and usually reached some various degree of dangerous.  This was relatively tame compared to the last one Skittery had been to.  

"Soda, beer, or eggnog?" Race asked, opening the fridge.

"Eggnog?" Skittery raised an eyebrow.

Race turned, one eyebrow slightly cocked above the other one, "You know that stuff parents get every Christmas.  Milk and egg, kind of like a milkshake, but more on the milky side.  Ring any bells?"

"I love how eloquently you put it Race."

"Bite me," he snapped, holding out a glass.  "Want some?"

Skittery reached out and took it, "I've never actually tried it."

At that Racetrack reached out and pulled the cup out of Skittery's hands and put it back on the counter.  He poured a new carton out of the fridge and poured a new glass. "Then drink that."

"What was wrong with the other one?" He asked warily.

"It wasn't for someone who was trying it for the first time, that's all.  It's more…" He paused.  "Remember at my huge party last year I got Blink and Mush up there singing karaoke, even though Blink's afraid.  That's how I did it, just added a bit of liquid courage."

"You spiked their drinks?"

"No, they brought the alcohol." He laughed at the memory, "Hell, my parents spike theirs.  It's good.  Just make sure you drink it out of the green carton the first few times you have it.  The brown one is a bit, heh, _stronger_."

Skittery took a tentative sip of the drink in his hand and shrugged, "Not bad."  He gulped down the rest of the drink and poured another before following his friend back out to the living room.  He grinned as Racetrack placed the brown eggnog carton on the table along with several plastic cups.  

"Drink up, guys," he called, "It's got to be gone by the time my parents get home and I ain't drinking all of it tomorrow!"   

Spot's eyes went wide and he poured himself a full cup before retreating to the corner of ladies he'd settled in with while they'd been in the kitchen.  

As others came to claim drinks Skittery left his friends side and began to mingle with everyone else.  Surprisingly Race had good taste in people, and his friends were nearly all Skittery's friends too.  Skittery had been used to Race's parties where there were cliques in every room, and someone either high, drunk, or for an odd reason stripping in each room.  This, he had to admit, was a better atmosphere.

It was really unsurprising that there were people still making out all over the place.  He'd passed Dutchy and Specs who were practically ready to rip each other's clothes off in one of the smaller rooms.  All he had on that subject was that it was well past due.  Around the two of them the sexual tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and it was painfully obvious that each was ready to jump the other.  Just, finally.

Then he passed Jack making out with some girl, who was definitely not his girlfriend, but that was expected.  Sarah, was a cheerleader, and didn't stoop to their level.

Other than that, Mush had girls all over him, Blink was chatting it up with his latest weekly, and David was in the middle of an argument with Pie over who got the last of the snacks on the table.  What could he say; the boys were grouchy when they were hungry.

"Skitts," Snitch shouted, "I thought you weren't coming?"

"I seriously question my sanity in the decision," Skittery admitted.  "I don't do the whole Christmas party thing."

"I remember, trust me," Snitch smirked, "Playing dreidle is much more your thing.  But then Race throws a pretty good party when he's not trying to impress."

"Yeah," Skittery agreed as loud music began pounding from the living room, followed closely by an equally loud crash.  "I'll leave you to your date now."  He motioned with his head towards Snoddy, who was watching the movie, and stretched out on the couch.

"Alright, I'll see you at school when we get back."

"Yeah, I guess."

He walked into the living room, which contained more people than any other room.  Spot was in the center of it all, as Skittery had guessed, jumping on the table and head banging along with the song that sounded oddly like some familiar rock group playing on the stereo.

Skittery poured himself an eggnog and leaned against the wall next to Racetrack, who was staring at the scene, an expression of mild amusement on his face.

"How many eggnogs did he have?" Skittery asked as Spot peeled off his shirt and spun it over his head.

"I lost count after seven," Race admitted.  He kept his eyes focused on Spot as one of the girls poured eggnog over him, covering him in the sticky off-white liquid.  "I wish I had a camera though."

"What's his mother going to say when you send him home with a hangover in the morning?" Skittery asked as the song ended.

"She'll probably thank me for taking him off her hands for a night.  What?"  He turned to the figure to his left that was poking his shoulder repeatedly.

Spot looked over the two of them with wide eyes.  Then in a very un-Spot like voice spoke to Racetrack, "He's cute; you should go out with him."

Skittery nearly spit out the eggnog he'd been drinking.  Race had a similar reaction. 

"Motherfucker, asshole.  Get out of here."  He swatted his friend and glared after him as he laughed.

It was typical of Race to answer that way.  Skittery laughed as Spot wobbled drunkenly across the room and fell into a boy named Blue and started to turn on the Conlon charm.  Blue's friend, Hawk, meanwhile was filming the two with his camera.

"Conlon's gonna be in for a surprise later," He hissed to Race, "I'll leave the tape here.  Show him when he's out of the hangover."

Race grinned and walked back into the kitchen. Skittery went in after him when he did not appear several minutes later.  Race wasn't in the kitchen so he continued up the stairs, the only possible exit that didn't lead into the snow.  

Race was reclining across the top of the stairs with a cup of something or other in his hand.  His eyes were closed and there was a grin on his face.

Skittery took a seat near Race's legs and lightly hit his shoulder, "What are you doing up here?"

"Sitting," He muttered, not opening his eyes.  "Everyone's loud down there, and they're all psychotic.  I really wonder why I hang out with everyone that's here sometimes"

"Look who's talking."

At that he opened his eyes and sent a glare in Skittery's direction.  "You're smarter than you look; you know that."  He sighed, "But then I'd have to say the same about Spot…"

"And why is that?" Skittery asked, choosing to ignore the insult.

"Because he's right," Race watched him as he spoke.

Skittery said nothing but took a long sip of the eggnog in his hand.  He finally broke the silence several minutes later, "I guess he is right then."

Race set down his drink on the top step and leaned forward on his knees.  His lips gently grazed Skittery's and when he went to pull away Skittery moved with him to continue the kiss.  Race couldn't help but grin and kissed the boy across from him more forcefully.  

Neither of them could readily say how long they had been there when a sudden pounding on the stairs.  Still neither bothered to separate from the other.  All of their friends were really acceptant, and everyone already knew Skittery was gay.

 Something cold doused them both as the feet stopped in front of them.  They jumped apart and Race let out a yelp.  

Spot's laughter echoed through the hall.  He pointed at them and waved the eggnog carton above his head, laughing like a madman.  "Happy Hanukkah!" he shouted before sprinting back down the stairs.

They both stared after him, utterly amazed though ignoring the gooey, white liquid covering their shirts.  Spot was spontaneous, sure, and usually dangerous, but tonight he was downright giddy.

"He'll have us sleeping together by morning," Race said.

Skittery agreed and continued, "Now, really, what did you put in his drink?"

Race laughed again, "Don't ask."

Skittery grinned and licked his lips.  He'd have to take a shower before he went home; his father would kill him if he got eggnog all over the interior of the new car.

At watching the other boy lick his lips Race simply couldn't take it anymore.  He leaned in again and kissed him, this time deepening the kiss.  Skittery tasted like nutmeg and eggnog, but then seeing as they were both covered in it…

Skittery's fingers slid under Racetrack's shirt and cold fingers met the skin of his back.  Racetrack shuddered and arched his back.  Skittery laughed into their kiss and Racetrack pulled back.

"C'mon, I'll show you where the bathroom is so you can clean up." He led Skittery down the hall to the bathroom, which, conveniently enough connected to Race's bedroom.  

Both stripped off their soaked shirts and Race grabbed a towel from the closet.  Skittery dropped it to the floor and in a move that was quite daring and unlike him tackled Race to the large bed.  He kissed the shorter boy lightly.  

"We don't want to make Spot a liar, do we?" He whispered into his ear.  With that he again kissed Race, tasting naught but nutmeg and eggnog on his lips.

A/N: Yay, I'm done.  Well, with this one at least.  This is the start of a series of mostly unconnected stories about the holiday season.  If I misspelled any words pertaining to Hanukkah, I'm terribly sorry.  I've got plenty of story ideas, and I want to write a lot this weekend, which may be hard considering I've got a paper to write but I'll try.  No idea what I'm starting next.  But until Christmas time this is probably most of what I'll be working on.  Hope you enjoyed.  Leave me a review, and a huge shout out to Frog who gave me the idea for this couple.

~Hotshot~~~


	2. Chritmas Tree

Disclaimer: Don't own Snoddy, Swifty, Pie, or Snoddy's Brothers. I do own Mrs. Jones and Gram. I like Gram. That's about it. Any information on the Jewish religion that is misspelled or interpreted is not my fault. I'll blame shortie.

Holiday Chronicles:

Christmas Tree

Hotshot

A/N: Slash don't like it, don't read it.

Snoddy turned his car onto the street, instinctively putting a hand out to stop the plastic grocery bag from falling onto the floor and spilling its contents. Another corner beaten, he thought to himself, thinking of turning out of his driveway and having dozens of dreidles and gifts falling to the floor of his car. He smirked as he parked the car in front of the little blue house on his right.

This was going to be strange, he knew that. They'd only been dating for two weeks, and Snoddy had yet to meet his boyfriend's parents. He was almost scared to go in there. On the other hand it did keep him out of the house and away from his heckling older brothers. It was now or never. Grabbing the bag out of the front seat he got out and started up the front walk.

He rang the doorbell and hunched his shoulders as if it would keep the cold from getting to him. A small, thin, dark haired woman answered the door. Rich must tower over her, Snoddy thought. Then he saw her face. Her son was the spitting image of his mother, those dark, sad eyes.

"You must be Robert." She grinned warmly.

"Hi, Mrs. Jones. I guess I'm kind of early. Rich told me it would-"

"Oh, don't stay out there in that cold." She opened the screen door, "Come in, come in."

Once he was inside and out of his wet sneakers and coat Mrs. Jones called her son's name up the stairs before excusing herself to the living room. Her son poked his head around the corner of the landing.

"Come on up. I'm just digging the ornaments out of the eves."

"Does your mom know we're dating?"

"Ummm… yeah," He was bent over reaching through the door in his bedroom wall to grab the third and last box of Christmas decorations. He dusted his hands off on his jeans and turned to look over his shoulder. "Why?"

His dark hair had flopped down into his face, "Because, Pie, she didn't act weird about my being here at all." He reached forward and brushed the hair out of Pie Eater's eyes.

Pie handed Snoddy one of the boxes and heaved another over his shoulder. "She's fine with it. Yes, _your _parents blew up about it but they got over it pretty fast, _right_?"

"Right." Snoddy agreed.

"My mom's always been fine with it. She had a friend in high school that was gay."

"Oh."

"Besides, you get good grades. She already adores you."

"That's all it takes for her," He smirked, "So what, do you have to act like a goddamn saint to make up for your poor grades?"

"I am a saint, what are you talking about?" He shifted the box on his shoulder and steered Snoddy in the direction of the back of the house.

"If you're a saint, then I'm a fucking Buddhist."

Pie shrugged and walked into the back room where his mother was straightening out the tree. An elderly woman sat on the sofa across the room, carefully unwrapping decorations from a series of shoeboxes.

"Richard, be careful with those," she lectured as Pie Eater all but dropped his box onto the floor.

"Sorry Gram," he mumbled before taking the second and third from Snoddy. Like had on the front stoop Snoddy clammed up. Really, what was he to say to his boyfriend's mother and grandmother? Luckily Pie Eater didn't seem to care. "Gram, this is my boyfriend, Rob. Snoddy, this is my Gram and I guess you already met my mom."

"Afternoon," he said politely.

She enveloped him in a hug. "So good to meet you. We've heard so much about you from Rich."

Snoddy's eyebrows shot up, "what exactly has he told you?"

Pie's mother started laughing, "Nothing horrible, dear, don't worry." She began to untangle coils of red and gold beads and threads of lights to wrap around the tree. "Richard, dear, give me a hand with these. Robert, why don't you help Gram unwrap the old decorations."

He moved to the couch to help the older woman. Several boxes of ceramic banks and plates littered the table. There was a nutcracker, a rocking horse, a drummer boy piggy-bank, and a tree-shaped dish. The older woman took them from him and arranged them on a table. All the while he watched Pie struggling to walk behind the tree with a string or lights and mostly falling on his face.

"Ah-ha!" the old woman next to him crowed. "I knew these were in here somewhere, Judy." She held up several window candles. "I'm going to go set them up in the windows upstairs."

"Alright Mom," Mrs. Jones agreed as she turned on the lights, which surprisingly still worked. "Well, why don't you boys start decorating the tree?"

Snoddy thought back upon the previous years when he'd be at Swifty's while they decorated the tree, and did homework. No matter how late it was they always waited for Mr. Li to get home.

"What about Mr. Jones? Don't you want to wait for him to get home?"

Mrs. Jones stared at him for a moment before excusing herself, saying that she'd be back with something for them to eat. She shot a glance at her son as she left. Snoddy caught it and turned to look at his boyfriend. Pie was biting his lip, something that has become a rather nervous habit over the years.

"What'd I say?" he asked.

Pie took a seat in a chair across the room, a plush, overstuffed thing. "You mentioned my dad." He brushed hair out of his eyes and scratched the back of his head wondering exactly what to say. "He uh… he left when I was… seven. Haven't seen him since. I think he called a year ago, maybe more. He wanted to talk to me but I couldn't talk to him after what he did to my mom. He lives in Connecticut now; mom says he's got a huge house, a new wife, and a couple of kids. She went to visit him a few months ago."

"I'm sorry I brought that up."

"One of us would have had to sooner or later. Just don't mention it when she comes back, especially not in front of Gram."

"I won't," Snoddy promised. He pulled himself across the floor to sit in front of Pie. "Does he know about you and me?"

"Mom told him last winter. I don't know how he took it." He kissed Snoddy quickly on the mouth, "Don't much care either."

Snoddy grinned and pulled Pie out of the chair and down on top of him. They both laughed, and Snoddy took the opportunity to kiss Pie again. It was only after they'd fallen silent for several minutes that Pie's mother reappeared, a plate of Christmas cookies in her hand.

"Honestly boys," she muttered with a slight grin, "Could you be any more tactless?"

"Why bother?" Pie asked his mother. "You and Gram don't care."

"Well I don't but your grandmother hasn't exactly seen you and Robert on top of each other. I can only imagine how she'll react when it finally sinks in."

"Real comforting, Ma."

"At least if it's before she gets to know Rob."

"Snoddy."

"Excuse me."

"Call him Snoddy. That's what he prefers, and you can go ahead and call me Pie."

The woman shrugged, "I swear it's like one of those damn puzzles. I never know what you want to hear. One day it's Pie, the next Rich." She threw up her hands in frustration.

Pie's grandmother entered the room and looked at the undecorated tree. "What's wrong with you two; there isn't a single ornament on that tree yet. She pulled the lid off of one of the boxes and shoved it in their direction.

Snoddy reached in and took hold of an ornament, lifting it out carefully. It was a tiny cartoon dinosaur with a saddle, antlers, and a red, Rudolph nose. He let out a laugh. He followed Pie to the tree where his boyfriend hung a small, Kiss-Me-I'm-Irish bell on one of the high branches. Mrs. Jones and Pie's Gram were also picking more delicate pieces out of smaller boxes.

After several quick trips between the box and the tree Snoddy took a seat on the floor and began to look through the family ornaments. Upon inspection he pulled a small paper ball out of the box. The front of it was decorated with the school picture of a boy who could not have been any older than six. Snoddy let out a laugh.

"Pie, is that you!"

"Give me that," Pie snatched it away embarrassed. His mother and grandmother only laughed at his helpless situation. But then, that was the reason first grade classes made ornaments, so parents could embarrass their children later in life.

"Oh, but Pie, you're so cute…" Snoddy kissed him on the cheek, snatching the ornament back and hanging it on the very front of the tree.

"Bitch," Pie muttered, "OW!"

His grandmother hit him upside the head. "Watch your mouth young man."

"Sorry Gram."

"Of course you are; you got caught."

Snoddy couldn't help but laugh to himself as he dug back into the box full of ornaments. Pie's family was great; his grandmother was hilarious.

After nearly an hour the tree was almost finished. Mrs. Jones and Pie Eater's grandmother had stopped helping the boys with ornaments and were finishing unwrapping other decorations. Snoddy could not help but stare as Mrs. Jones unwrapped a ceramic Christmas tree. It looked handmade, and he heard his mother rambling on in his head. She would have asked so many questions.

"That's beautiful," he commented, "My mother would love it."

"Does your mother decorate so much for Christmas, Snoddy?"

He blushed, "No ma'am, we're Jewish."

"Really?" Pie's grandmother raised an eyebrow, "Rich didn't say anything about that."

"Does it matter?" Pie asked.

"It would have been nice to have some warning. We haven't offended you, have we dear?"

"No ma'am," he insisted, "Nearly all of my friends celebrate Christmas anyway. I'm used to it." He turned to Pie's mother, "My mom used to do a lot of art stuff when she was in college. She loved ceramics."

"Oh," Mrs. Jones smiled, "My sister made this a few years ago. I think this is the only one that hasn't been broken by someone. The rest of my siblings are quite clumsy."

"_They're_ clumsy," Pie's eyebrow arched.

"You hush. I'd better get dinner started. You are staying aren't you Snoddy?"

"I'd be delighted ma'am."

"Come on Mom, and help me make some dinner."

The old woman pushed herself from the couch with a crystal, teardrop-shaped ornament dangling from her fingers. After hanging it on the tree she gave her grandson a small, sly smile and walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" Snoddy asked.

"Mmmm…" Pie bit his lower lip before knocking Snoddy off the ottoman and onto the floor. He kissed him fiercely and grinned a few moments later as he pushed himself off of his boyfriend. "Gram and I have a special understanding between us."

"I'll say."

"So," Pie played with the strings on Snoddy's sweatshirt. He glanced at the plastic bag, still abandoned on the floor, "What'd you bring me?"

Snoddy shoved his boyfriend off of him and reached for the bag. He drew out the dreidle and a bag of Christmas M&Ms, the only ones the store had stocked.

"Chocolate!" Pie launched himself at Snoddy, who, through experience, knew to move out of the way. Due to this Pie landed face-first in the carpet.

"Not fair," came a muffled protest.

"I'll give you some but you can't eat them."

"Why not?" Pie pouted.

"I thought you wanted to learn how to play?" Snoddy chucked a dreidle at the dark-haired boy.

"This game involves candy?"

"Whenever I play with my cousins it does. Well, except with Josh. Then it's cash."

"Money and chocolate; I think I should convert." Pie joked. He spun the dreidle on the table. It stopped spinning and he looked at it funny for a moment "What's that mean?"

"Nun." Snoddy poured some M&Ms onto the table and began separating them into two groups, pushing one in Pie Eater's general direction. "No eating." He went on to explain the basic rules of the game. And during the game they proceeded to play explained several more times. Sadly on Pie's part, by the time Mrs. Jones came back with some food Snoddy had a considerably larger pile of M&Ms.

"Cheater," he hissed as his mother sat down with them.

As they ate Pie's mother poured herself some M&Ms and joined the game. Before long she was beating both their sorry asses. Even Snoddy was surprised. She rolled gimmel or hay every time.

"It's not fair," Pie complained as he rolled his third straight shin. "You just started playing and you're kicking my ass."

"Rich, watch your moth." Mrs. Jones smiled, "Don't you remember me talking about college. Both of my roommates were Jewish. I'm a professional at playing dreidle."

"Just peachy," Pie muttered as his mother won his last two pieces of candy. He leaned his elbows on the table and sat with his face in his hands like a small child would. His face bobbed back and forth between his mother and boyfriend as they rolled. He rooted for neither and yelled excitedly when either lost.

Eventually Mrs. Jones was victorious. Whether it was because she was a superior player or because Pie was very sly about stealing M&Ms from Snoddy's pile was anyone's guess.

Pie's grandmother finally turned on some Christmas music after they had all eaten their fill. Pie and Snoddy insisted on singing the 'drunken twelve days of Christmas' as Pie's mother dug through the one of the ornament boxes to find the star.

She returned with a tacky gold thing all strung up with Christmas lights and gold tinsel. It was nothing like the elegant things Snoddy had seen in department stores or the homes of other friends. Perhaps he would get Pie's family a new star for their tree for Christmas.

However, the idea quickly drained from his head as Mrs. Jones handed the star to Pie Eater with the utmost care. He understood immediately that there was some type of story and meaning behind the star that he was missing.

Pie stared at the star for a moment and after a quick glance at his mother and grandmother handed it to Snoddy. "Okay, Snoddy, this is the star. It goes on top of the tree," he joked.

Snoddy had a comeback for the snide remark on the tip of his tongue. Snoddy also realized the delicateness of the situation. Although it didn't seem much like it he was in a sense being welcomed into the family. He took the star carefully from Pie and placed it carefully on top of the tree.

Mrs. Jones turned off the lights while Pie plugged in the tree lights. The effect was one Snoddy had witnessed several times before. The tree lit up the entire room and the star blinked from the top.

The feeling Snoddy got when he looked at the other people in the room was very different. Swifty's family would usually disperse as soon as the tree was lit. Pie's family on the other hand stood in awe. Snoddy stood several steps away and watched them. He knew he was watching something different, and something special. It reminded him of back when he had first learned the story behind Hanukkah and how he had been in complete awe the next time they'd gathered around the menorah. He didn't want to disturb them by being the first one to break the silence. Pie stood behind his mother and grandmother gazing over the tree. Each of them looked somewhere between sad, nostalgic, and joyous.

Finally, after several long moments Mrs. Jones excused herself and Pie and his grandmother both darted off in different directions. Snoddy stood there for a moment before removing half a dozen gifts from the plastic bag he had brought and placing them under the tree. It seemed that was exactly what had been on everyone else's mind as well. They all appeared with several wrapped gifts or bags and slid them under the pine's branches.

Gram and Mrs. Jones disappeared once again, wandering into another room to watch a movie. Snoddy expected Pie to suggest they go upstairs but the other boy simply stretched out on the couch and watched the tree.

Snoddy just stood where he was in the middle of the room for another moment until Pie reached out for his hand. Snoddy walked over to his boyfriend hand laced their fingers together before being pulled down on top of him for a tender kiss.

No words passed between them for several moments. Their time was split between staring at the tree and kissing one another.

"So," Snoddy cleared his throat and whispered, "The star?"

"I got it from my grandpa the year before he died," Pie whispered back, "My first Christmas."

"It's pretty."

"It's tacky."

"Yeah," Snoddy agreed resting his chin on Pie's collarbone, "It is."

"But it wouldn't be Christmas without it."

They stared again for a moment before Snoddy asked, "You're still coming over to light the menorah with us tomorrow night, right?"

"Of course I am." Pie hesitated, "D'you want to come over on Christmas morning. You know, seeing as we are sort of dating and it's just another morning for you."

"Not too early."

"Dude, seven a.m."

Snoddy groaned, "You're still like a little kid about Christmas aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Sure, why not. It's only one day out of my vacation."

Snoddy nuzzled into Pie's neck as the wind continued to howl outside. Pie in turn wrapped his arms tighter around his boyfriend and began to kiss his cheek. He sought out Snoddy's lips and repositioned himself so neither would fall of the couch. It was a comfortable, normal place for him. He dug his fingers into the back of Snoddy's shirt and pulled him tighter.

Snoddy opened his eyes only once. Past his boyfriend's face all he saw was the tree. Somehow that completed the moment for him. It was, after all, too late in the year for fireworks.

A/N: so yes, maybe I'll get some more chapters of this up this year. I have a couple stories vaguely planned out. I don't really like the ending on this one but I really wanted to get this up. More coming and not all of it is slash. If you haven't read the eggnog one yet go back to chapter one.

Hope you enjoyed R/R

Hotshot

11/28/04


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